I took the much easier approach from the North this time. Started at the turnout at 7240ft. This ascends a ridge NW of the peak. Unlike the PCT approach from Vincent Gap this has a bit less driving, is shorter, and has 600ft less gain. And unlike the zoo on the PCT, there's nobody here. The forest is completely overrun right now, so this was a big perk. There's also no established trail here, but the terrain is easy, and brush is minimal. It's steep in spots, but you can make whatever switchbacks you like. This was my first time here, and I'm never taking the Vincent Gap approach again.
Went over Baden-Powell, intersected with the crowds for a bit, and moved on to Ross ridge. Easy terrain. Steep in spots. I dropped down to pt 7407 and to the wreckage, and poked around for something like 2.5 hours. The whole area is made up of steep scree slopes. View towards the main debris field (wings and pt 8375 pictured; the photo is upright):
The debris is in or buried under the scree. Lots of stuff around the trees and the brush too (the plants keep stuff from sliding down). Found some more stuff, but nothing major. There're a TON of medium-sized chunks of metal. Stuff with rivets and screws and paint. Mostly non-identifiable. Below where I peeled off the last time the scree slopes steepen into series of dry falls.
At the lip of a big drop is what I think is a wheel assembly (?)
I finally turned around at 6650ft
At that point the debris field was thinning out, and the terrain was becoming more challenging. Probably the actual impact occurred above. My guess is that the USAF pulled out the small number of big pieces, and left the rest here. If that's not what happened, then there're big pieces further down. I want to say that the bigger chunks are more likely to get caught on stuff, so I would have already seen them if they were here. Maybe.
Biggest new-to-me chunks:
A lightly-used, genuine BF-Goodrich Silvertown tire:
A heavy, solid chunk of iron, or something. Were these things armored?
Some mangled something:
Actuator? Piston? Axle?
Somethings:
Pretty sure I don't need to come back here. Bagged Ross on the way back. The register box and the book are gone. After a break on the peak, I headed back, and after 2.5 hours was back at my car.
Other than the overcrowding, the remaining snow was noteworthy. There isn't a ton of it, but given that this is mid-June, there's a LOT. The gully crossed by the highway at 7300ft in particular has quite a bit just above the road. And a bunch of cool dudes built a little terrain park and were riding their snowboards.
